The Delhi High Court has directed the customs dept. to discontinue practice of making tourists sign undertaking in standard form waiving show cause notice and personal hearing is contrary to the provisions of Section 124 of the Customs Act.
The bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh and Justice Dharmesh Sharma has stated that the Customs Department is expected to follow the principles of natural justice in each case where goods are confiscated in terms of Section 124 of the Customs Act.
The petitioner/assessee arrived on 17th June, 2024 in India at IGI, Airport, New Delhi from Russia. The appellant has been a resident of Russia for the last 17 years. It is submitted that he was wearing a gold chain which is valued at about Rs. 7 lakhs when he came to India and the same was detained by the Department at the airport. It is further submitted that till date no show cause notice has been issued.
The Department handed over a copy of the detention receipt signed by the Petitioner and the undertaking/appraisement report. The undertaking is in a standard format, wherein the Petitioner is stated to have waived the issuance of the show cause notice and personal hearing. The undertaking that the Appellant would pay the custom duty along with fine and penalty.
The Petitioner was wearing a gold chain which has been valued at Rs. 6,52,190/- by the Department. Till date, no show cause notice has been issued on the ground that the issuance of the show cause notice has already been waived.
The issue raised was in respect of undertaking a standard format for waiver of show cause notice and personal hearing signed by the concerned tourist.
The court held that the Customs Authority may issue an oral show cause notice to the tourist in lieu of a written show cause notice at the request of the said tourist. However, the undertaking in a standard form as relied upon by the Customs Department waiving the issuance of show cause notice and personal hearing would not satisfy the requirements of Section 124 of the Customs Act.
The court held that the undertaking signed by the Petitioner in the present case cannot be sustained in law.
Case Details
Case Title: Mr Makhinder Chopra Versus Commissioner Of Customs New Delhi
Case No.: W.P.(C) 2049/2025
Date: 19/02/2025
Counsel For Appellant: D S Chadha
Counsel For Respondent: Satish Aggarwala
